You can call it acoustic folk punk or Swedish progressive music if you’d like. The band JA!, hailing from Umeå, released this year their debut album “Vi heter ja” (“Our name is YES!”); 8 songs with clenched fists, sing-a-long refrains an Swedish prog melancholy. They call themselves street musicians and the frequent performances in streets and town squares is what has shaped the band’s music. The singer Johan Wallén writes:

Since May 2010 we have played for thousands of people in the streets. 12 people here, 40 people there, 100 people there and then for 6 people at a bus stop. Last year we played live more than most bands rehearse, if not more. We walk up to a group of people and say: “Hey, we’re going to play a song for you now”, and then we just play. Often it ends up in a sing-a-long and we leave a bunch of happy people behind as we head on to the next place.
(translated from Swedish)

The band name was invented just when the project started. Johan renamed the work folder for the song “En trosa med en blomma” (“Panties with a flower”) to JA! And according to Johan JA! (“Yes!”) has come to stand for positive songs that provoke, Yes! to love, anarchy for the free thought and that everyone should be allowed to be exactly who they are.

The album is available on Spotify, Wimp and Bandcamp. You can follow the band on Facebook and on their blog.

Sliten men vacker